AMD EPYC 9274F vs Intel Core i7-9700 Comparison

The AMD EPYC 9274F and Intel Core i7-9700 occupy vastly different corners of the processor market, yet their average benchmark scores land within 0.1% of each other. That statistical near-parity, however, masks a complete divergence in workload performance. The EPYC 9274F, a 24-core Zen 4 server processor, utterly dominates the i7-9700 in every Cinebench test, while the older Coffee Lake desktop chip counters with a broader suite of Passmark and Geekbench results. This comparison is not about which is faster overall, but about which architectural philosophy wins where it matters.

Where Each One Wins

The EPYC 9274F wins everywhere it is tested against the i7-9700 in the head-to-head benchmark set. Across six Cinebench tests spanning R15, R20, and R23, the AMD part takes all six victories. The margin is staggering: the EPYC 9274F delivers a 461.9% advantage in Cinebench R15 multi-core and a 462.3% lead in R15 single-core. The multi-core wins are expected given the 24-core versus 8-core disparity, but the single-core dominance is more revealing. The EPYC’s 4.05 GHz base clock and 4.30 GHz boost clock, combined with the Zen 4 architecture, outpace the i7-9700’s 3.00 GHz base and 4.70 GHz boost in actual rendering performance, suggesting per-clock efficiency is dramatically higher on the AMD side.

The i7-9700’s victories, by contrast, exist only outside the head-to-head table. Its benchmark suite includes Geekbench multi-core at 6800 and single-core at 1560, plus a full Passmark battery. The EPYC 9274F has no Geekbench or Passmark scores in the data. So while the i7-9700 does not win any direct comparison, its breadth of tests gives it wins in categories the EPYC never enters. The Passmark single-thread score of 2756 and data compression score of 181411 are useful for desktop-oriented analysis, but they do not appear in the rival comparison. For users looking strictly at Cinebench rendering, the EPYC is the only choice. For users needing integer math, floating-point math, or encryption benchmarks, the i7-9700 has data and the EPYC has none.

Architecture Differences

The two processors are separated by more than time; they represent opposite ends of the design spectrum. The EPYC 9274F is built on TSMC’s 5 nm process node with 52,560 million transistors spread across an 8x 72 mm² chiplet design. The i7-9700 uses Intel’s 14 nm process with a monolithic 180.3 mm² die. That node difference alone explains much of the performance gap — the EPYC packs 24 Zen 4 cores with 48 threads, while the i7-9700 has 8 Coffee Lake cores with 8 threads and no hyper-threading.

Cache configurations diverge sharply. The EPYC 9274F has 64 KB of L1 per core and 1 MB of L2 per core, with a massive 256 MB of shared L3. The i7-9700 also has 64 KB of L1 per core, but only 256 KB of L2 per core and 12 MB of shared L3. The EPYC’s L3 cache is over 21 times larger. Memory architecture follows suit: the EPYC supports DDR5 with a twelve-channel memory bus and 460.8 GB/s bandwidth, while the i7-9700 uses DDR4 with a dual-channel bus and 42.7 GB/s bandwidth. The EPYC also supports ECC memory; the i7-9700 does not.

The EPYC 9274F is a server/workstation part on AMD Socket SP5 with PCIe Gen 5 and 128 lanes (CPU only). The i7-9700 is a desktop part on Intel Socket 1151 with PCIe Gen 3 and 16 lanes (CPU only). The Intel chip includes integrated UHD Graphics 630; the AMD part has no integrated graphics. The EPYC’s production status is Active, while the i7-9700 is End-of-life. Release dates are nearly three years apart: the EPYC launched on November 9, 2022, and the i7-9700 on April 22, 2019.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The Cinebench results are a one-sided affair. In Cinebench R15 multi-core, the EPYC 9274F scores 6338 against the i7-9700’s 1128, a 461.9% delta. The R15 single-core test shows 894 versus 159, a 462.3% delta. Moving to R20, the EPYC scores 26411 multi-core and 3728 single-core, while the i7-9700 scores 4704 and 664, respectively — deltas of 461.5% and 461.4%. In R23, the EPYC posts 62884 multi-core and 8877 single-core; the i7-9700 scores 11200 and 1581, with both deltas at 461.5%.

The consistency of the deltas — all hovering near 461-462% — is remarkable. It suggests the EPYC’s advantage is not workload-dependent within Cinebench but rather a fixed multiplicative gap. The EPYC’s 24 cores versus 8 cores explains the multi-core margin, but the single-core margin cannot be attributed to core count. The R23 single-core score of 8877 for the EPYC versus 1581 for the i7-9700 indicates the Zen 4 architecture at 4.30 GHz boost is roughly 5.6 times faster in Cinebench single-threaded rendering than Coffee Lake at 4.70 GHz boost. This points to a dramatic IPC improvement at the architectural level.

The average benchmark scores in the nearestRivals data confirm the oddity: the EPYC 9274F averages 18189, and the i7-9700 averages 18180, a deltaPct of 0. This near-identical average is driven by the fact that the EPYC’s six Cinebench scores are its only benchmarks, while the i7-9700’s suite includes many lower-valued Passmark scores that drag its average down. The EPYC’s percentileVsAllCpus is 72, and the i7-9700’s is also 72. Neither processor moves the needle on aggregate, but the head-to-head table shows who wins where it counts.

Specification Differences

The core specifications diverge across every major field. The EPYC 9274F has 24 cores and 48 threads; the i7-9700 has 8 cores and 8 threads. Base clocks are 4.05 GHz versus 3.00 GHz, and boost clocks are 4.30 GHz versus 4.70 GHz. TDP is 320 watts for the EPYC versus 65 watts for the i7-9700 — a 5x power draw difference that reflects the server part’s raw throughput orientation. Sockets are incompatible: AMD Socket SP5 versus Intel Socket 1151.

Process nodes differ by two generations: 5 nm TSMC versus 14 nm Intel. The EPYC’s die is composed of 8x 72 mm² chiplets, while the i7-9700 is a single 180.3 mm² die. L2 cache per core is 1 MB on the EPYC versus 256 KB on the i7-9700. L3 cache is 256 MB shared versus 12 MB shared. Memory support is DDR5 twelve-channel versus DDR4 dual-channel. Bandwidth is 460.8 GB/s versus 42.7 GB/s. ECC is supported on the EPYC, not on the i7-9700. PCIe is Gen 5 with 128 lanes versus Gen 3 with 16 lanes. The i7-9700 has UHD Graphics 630; the EPYC has none. Market segments are Server/Workstation versus Desktop. Production status is Active versus End-of-life. Launch dates are 2022-11-09 versus 2019-04-22. Launch MSRP for the EPYC 9274F is $3060; the i7-9700 launched at $333.

FAQ

Q: Which processor has more cores and threads?

A: The AMD EPYC 9274F has 24 cores and 48 threads. The Intel Core i7-9700 has 8 cores and 8 threads.

Q: How much faster is the EPYC 9274F in Cinebench R23 multi-core?

A: The EPYC 9274F scores 62884 versus the i7-9700’s 11200, a 461.5% delta in favor of the AMD part.

Q: Does the i7-9700 support ECC memory?

A: No. The i7-9700 does not support ECC memory. The EPYC 9274F does support ECC memory.

Q: What is the memory bandwidth difference?

A: The EPYC 9274F supports twelve-channel DDR5 with 460.8 GB/s bandwidth. The i7-9700 supports dual-channel DDR4 with 42.7 GB/s bandwidth.

Q: Which processor has integrated graphics?

A: The Intel Core i7-9700 includes UHD Graphics 630. The AMD EPYC 9274F has no integrated graphics.

Q: Are the average benchmark scores similar?

A: Yes. The EPYC 9274F averages 18189 and the i7-9700 averages 18180, a deltaPct of 0. Both have a percentile rank of 72 against all CPUs.